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Thijs Al

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Thijs Al
Personal information
Full nameThijs Joris Al
Born(1980-06-16)16 June 1980(age 44)
Zaandam,Netherlands
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight70–73 kg (154–161 lb)
Team information
DisciplineMountain bike
Cyclo-cross
Road race
RoleRider

Thijs Joris Al(born 16 June 1980 inZaandam) is a Dutchcyclistspecializing in competitivemountain bikingandcyclo-cross.Al rode his first mountain bike race in 1995.[1]

In his junior years Al proved to be a talented rider and was already selected for the junior European and World Championships in 1997 after his 4th position at the Dutch national Championships.[1]At the European Championships inDenmarkhe did not come further than the 91st position, but at the World Championships inSwitzerlandhis 36th position was a better result. That year he finished in a first position in the Rabobank Topcompetitie and in second place for the Benelux Cup.[2]

He won his first Dutch national title in 1998 and successfully defended his Rabobank Topcompetitie title. At the European Championships inBelgiumhe finished in 42nd position, but again he performed much better at the World Championships, towards a 17th position inCanada.[3]After a successful year in 1998 he was invited to ride for the Be-One Europe team, which was the junior team for the Be-One World team.[1]

In 1999, his first professional year he had a tough time keeping up with his opponents, mainly due to the longer distances of the races.[1]In the Rabobank Topcompetitie he only finished in third position, while at the Dutch national Championships he had to be satisfied with a 4th place. At the European (28th) and World Championships (47th) he ended up among the anonymous riders.[4]

2000 however brought him better results, he won a mountain bike race inLemelerveldand a road race inBeverwijk.He became Dutch national mountain bike champion under-23 and he came home with a third place and bronze medal at the European under-23 Championships inRhenenas a highlight.[1]At the World Championships he finished in 44th position this time.[5]

In 2001 Al showed a lot of progression. He won three races in the challenge for the Belgian Cup and finished second in another race for this cup. He won more mountain bike races inDen Helder,BergschenhoekandRoc d'Azur,while he won road races inZwanenburg,RodenandVenhuizen.He finished second in the Norg Topcompetitie, first in the Topcompetitie Espoirs and second in the Topcompetitie Experts.[6]After finishing in second position at the Dutch mountain bike championships he promoted his bronze European Championships medal into a silver one.[1]He also finished 2nd at the Dutch national road championships, surprising all his regular road racing opponents. As a result, he was selected to participate at the road race World Under-23 Championships where he finished 42nd.[1]

The Be-One team retired in 2002 and Al moved to the BankGiroLoterij team. This team mainly focused on road races and Al gained quite some experiences. In the Three-days of Norg he won the second stage, while he finished second in theprologueand the first stage and third in the third stage, resulting in a third place overall.[7]He also won the Kuinre Topcompetitie, but Al's heart for tracks with mud and the friendly atmosphere in mountain bike competitions made him not renew his contract at the end of the year.[1]Back on the mountain bike he became Dutch national champion again and he won the Topcompetitie Espoirs, while finishing second for the Topcompetitie Experts.[7]

Together with his sponsor he created a team that was only focused on qualifying for the2004 Summer Olympics.[1]2003 was also his first season as a full professional rider. However he participated as an under-23 rider inParis–Roubaixand won the race that ended in thevelodrome.Al won a road race inGroot-Ammersand won mountain bike races inBerlicum,OssandBrakelwhere he outsprintedFilip Meirhage.In the Dutch Championships for elite riders he finished second[8]

In 2004 he started with a win in the beach race ofEgmond aan Zee,another race inNieuwkuijkand one inApeldoorn.He also won the OZ Wielerweekend, finished in 15th position at the European Championships inPoland.Afterwards he became fifth at the Dutch national championships, but third at the Benelux Championships. Al qualified and represented the Netherlands at the2004 Summer OlympicsinAthenswhere he finished in 25th position while his teammateBart Brentjeswon the bronze medal.[9]

Al rode in the Giant Mountainbike Racing Team alongside Brentjens in 2005, a great opportunity to learn, but due to the many races inGermanyand the travels to and from there his performances dropped down.[1]From 2006 on he became one of the main riders in the Bejan-Rings Pro Cycling Team and he was allowed to schedule his own training program.[1]This was also the period that he got more interested in cyclo-cross. He still became third at the Dutch national mountain bike championships, but afterwards his main results were from the cyclo-cross, among those his second position inVeghel-Eerdeand his third position inHofstade.[10]In 2007 he managed to ride himself into the top three inHuijbergenandZeddam,while in 2008 he became third in the Centrumcross inSurhuisterveenand second at the Dutch national cyclo-cross championships inSint-Michielsgestel.[11]

Career highlights

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European Championships[11]
2000 – 3rd,mountain bike(under-23)
2001 – 2nd,mountain bike(under-23)
Dutch National Championships[11]
1998 – 1st,mountain bike(juniors)
2000 – 1st,mountain bike(under-23)
2001 – 2nd,mountain bike(under-23)
2001 – 2nd,road race(under-23)
2002 – 1st,mountain bike(under-23)
2003 –Zoetermeer,2nd,mountain bike
2006 –Noorbeek,3rd,mountain bike
2008 –Sint-Michielsgestel,2nd,cyclo-cross
2008 – 1st,mountain bike(elite)
Other achievements[11]
1997 -Netherlands,1st, Rabobank Topcompetitie
1997 -Benelux,2nd, Benelux Cup
1998 -Netherlands,1st, Rabobank Topcompetitie
1999 -Netherlands,3rd, Rabobank Topcompetitie
2001 -Norg,2nd, Norg Topcompetitie
2001 -Netherlands,1st, Topcompetitie Espoirs
2001 -Netherlands,2nd, Topcompetitie Experts
2002 -Norg,1st, Second Stage, Norg 3 daagse
2002 -Norg,3rd, Norg Topcompetitie
2002 -Kuinre,1st, Kuinre Topcompetitie
2002 -Netherlands,1st, Topcompetitie Espoirs
2002 -Netherlands,2nd, Topcompetitie Experts
2003 -Egmond-pier-Egmond,3rd, Egmond Strandrace
2003 -Voroklini,2nd, Voroklini Cyprus
2003 -Berlicum,1st, mountain bike
2003 -Cassis,3rd, mountain bike
2003 -Paris–Roubaix,1st, under-23
2003 -Havelte,2nd, mountain bike
2003 -Haren,2nd, road race
2003 -Oss,1st, mountain bike
2003 -Wageningen,3rd, road race
2003 -Groot-Ammers,1st, road race
2003 -Brakel,1st, Beker van België, mountain bike
2003 -Winterslag,2nd, Beker van België, mountain bike
2003 -Gieten,2nd, mountain bike
2004 -Egmond-pier-Egmond,1st, mountain bike, beach race
2004 -Berlicum,2nd, mountain bike
2004 -Thieusies,2nd, mountain bike
2004 -Nieuwkuijk,1st, mountain bike
2004 -Apeldoorn,1st, mountain bike
2004 -Machairas,3rd, Afxenteia MTB Stage
2004 -Netherlands,1st in General Classification, OZ Wielerweekend,road race
2004 -Benelux,3rd, mountain bike, Benelux Championship
2004 -Gieten,2nd, mountain bike
2005 -Marle,3rd,cyclo-cross
2006 -Veghel-Eerde,2nd,cyclo-cross
2006 -Hofstade,3rd,cyclo-cross
2007 -Huijbergen,3rd,cyclo-cross
2007 -Zeddam,3rd,cyclo-cross
2008 -Surhuisterveen,3rd, Surhuisterveen Centrumcross,cyclo-cross

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghijkBiografie Thijs Al,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008(in Dutch)
  2. ^1997,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008[dead link‍]
  3. ^1998,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008[dead link‍]
  4. ^1999,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008[dead link‍]
  5. ^2000,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008
  6. ^2001,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008
  7. ^ab2002,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008
  8. ^2003,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008
  9. ^2004,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008
  10. ^2006,thijsal, ret 12 January 2008
  11. ^abcdResults of Thijs Al,cyclingwebsite.net, ret 12 January 2008
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